Buttons



Dec. 17, 1968 v, MATHISQN 3,416,196

BUTTONS Filed Feb. 13, 1967 I I 2| V//'////.

INVENTOR:

v ROBERTV. MATHISONI ATT'Y United States Patent 3,416,196 BUTTONS Robert V. Mathison, Woodcrest Road, Asheville, N.C. 28804 Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,427 4 Claims. (Cl. 24-90) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Buttons with deformable, substantially pointed projections and a proturberant, spacer member on center portion of rear faces thereof.

Background of the invention The invention herein concerns improvements in buttons for articles of clothing and the like whereby buttons may be attached to fabrics without the use of thread. It particularly concerns buttons which are, in use, slightly spaced from the fabric to which the button is attached.

Buttons used for fastening through buttonholes in garments having relatively thick or heavy fabric, i.e., front buttons on coats and suits, usually are attached at present by thread with a winding of the thread behind the button to provide a spacer neck of thread. This spacer neck is provided in order to accommodate behind the button the relatively heavy fabric in the area of the buttonhole. A similar spacing effect may be achieved with buttons having a loop on the rear face, the attaching thread being sewn through the loop.

The attachment of buttons by thread and the winding thereof to provide the spacer neck is a time consuming operation in the garment industry. The present invention proposes to speed up and simplify the attachment of buttons of the aforesaid nature to garments and the like by the utilization of deformable projections on the rear face of the button, which projections penetrate the fabric and are then deformed in order to secure the button to the fabric. The protruding spacer members hold the button in the desired spaced relationship to the face of the fabric on which the button is secured.

Summary of the invention The projections preferably are relatively sharply jointed, tapered projections projecting substantially at right angles from the rear face of the center portion of the button. It is preferred that these projections be made of a thermoplastic polymer molded integrally with a thermoplastic button or with a thermoplastic base to be attached to the rear face of the button. The projections may be deformed by the application of heat and pressure to form enlargements or heads of the type disclosed in my U.S. Patent No. 3,247,848, or they may be of a nature which is cold deformable, without shattering or breaking, by the application of a sharp blow or impact. In a still further form thereof, the projections may be heat deformable into a union of two or more projections substantially as shown in US. Patent No. 2,935,434, in staple-like fashion.

The protuberant, spacer member may be a disc or rib on the center portion of the rear face of the button, and may be molded integrally with the button and/or the projections. In certain forms of the invention, the projections have their bases on the rear face of the spacer member. In a more preferred form of the invention, the protuberant, spacer member comprises a narrow wall projecting at right angles from the rear face of the button and surrounding or partially surrounding the projections, the latter being the area enclosed or substantially enclosed by the wall.

Brief description of the drawing The drawing shows three preferred embodiments of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the rear face of the first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diametric sectional 'view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the button attached to fabric;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the rear face of a second embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diametric section thereof of section plan 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the button attached to fabric;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the rear face of the third embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diametric section of the embodiment of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a diametric section of the button attached to fabric.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 comprises a disc-shaped button 10 having a rear face 11. A protuberant spacer member 12 of disc shape is integrally formed on or fastened to the center portion of the rear face 11. The spacer member 12 has integrally molded therewith a plurality of tapered, relatively sharp tipped projections 13 arranged in a ring extending at right angles to the rear faces of the button and the spacer mem ber. The projections 13 are preferably made of a heat deformable, thermoplastic polymer and have sufiicient length to completely penetrate and extend through the fabric through which the button is to be attached. After such penetration, the tips -14 are heat formed into heads or enlargements 15 whereby the button 10 is held securely on the fabric with a space 16 between the rear face 11 of the button and the face 17 of the fabric.

The embodiment of FIGS. 4-6 comprises a disc-shaped button 20 having a rear face 21. A rib 22 is integrally molded with or secured to the center portion of the rear face 21. The rib 22 has a plurality of tapered, relatively sharp tipped projections 23 of a character and structure similar to the projections 13. When the button 20' is mounted on the fabric or the like by heat deforming the which allows it to be pivoted in a rocking-like motion along the longitudinal axis of the rib. The longitudinal axis of the rib coincides preferably with the slot of the buttonhole.

The embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 comprises a disc-shaped button 30 having a rear face 31. The protruberant, spacer member comprises a ring wall 32 concentrically positioned in the center portion of the rear face 31. The ring 32 surrounds the thermoplastic projections 33. When the tips 34 of projections 33 are deformed to form heads or enlargements 35, the ring wall 32 coacts in securing the button to the fabric 36 by providing a recess wherein the fabric, held by the deformed projections 33, is positioned. In this embodiment, therefore, the protuberant, spacer member not only provides the spacing of the rear face 21 of the button in the peripheral areas thereof, but also provides a recess or seat for more secure attachment of the button to the fabric.

The body portions of the illustrated buttons are discs. Other shapes such as squares, diamonds, ovals, hemis pheres, etc. may be used instead of the disc shape. The body portions may be molded of the same thermoplastic material as the projections and/ or spacer members, or the body. portions may be made of other materials such as thermosetting resins, mussel shells, glass, ivory, metals, and the like.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the form herein disclosed being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A button comprising the combination of a body portion having a narrow elongated rib extending diametrically across the center portion of the rear face thereof, said rib being a molded thermoplastic polymer, and a row of a plurality of heat deformable, substantially pointed projections of said polymer molded integrally with said rib and extending from the rear face of said rib substantially at right angles away from said first-mentioned rear face, said projections having a length sufiicient to extend completely through a fabric, whereby said rib provides a rocker-like support of said button on a fabric when said projections extend through said fabric and the tip portions of said projections are heat deformed into enlarged heads to secure said button on said fabric.

2. The combination of a fabric and a button attached thereto which comprises a fabric, and a button as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substantially pointed tip portions of said projections extend completely through the fabric and said tip portions are heat deformed into enlarged heads to hold securely said button on said fabric.

3. A button comprising the combination of a body portion, a plurality of heat deformable, substantially pointed projections of a thermoplastic polymer on the center portion of the rear face of said body portion, said projections extending substantially 'at right angles away from said 4 I face, said projections having a length sufficient to extend completely through a fabric, and a ring .wall extending outwardly from said rear face in surrounding relationship about said projections, said ring wall providing a protuberant spacer member on said center portion of said rear face adapted to hold the peripheral portion of the rear face of said body portion in spaced relationship to fabric when said button is mounted on .a fabric with said projections penetrating said fabric and with the tip portons thereof being heat deformed into enlarged heads to hold securely said button on said fabric, and said ring wall further providing a recess in said center portion of said rear face adapted for receiving the projection-held segment of said fabric and the enlarged heads thereof.

4. The combination of a fabric and a button attached thereto which comprises a fabric, and a button as claimed in claim 3 wherein the substantially pointed tip portions of said projections extend completely through the fabric and said tip portions are heat deformed into enlarged heads to hold securely said button on said fabric with said enlarged heads and the projetcion-held segment of said fabric positioned in said recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 882,027 3/1908 Strauss 24-90 XR 1,694,802 12/1928 Stuart 24-90 2,470,963 5/ 1949 Weyl 24-90 FOREIGN PATENTS 206,765 6/ 1955 Australia.

990 1895 Great Britain. 13,325 1911 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Nova-Fax: German printed application 1,177,389,

September 1964.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

